Bloomberg:- Fannie Mae(FNM) investigators haven’t found anything new about the mortgage finance company’ $10.8 billion in accounting errors that goes significantly beyond those already revealed, said Warren Rudman, who is heading the internal probe.
- US retailers posted December sales gains as department stores and luxury merchants beat analysts’ sales forecasts.
- Natural gas is plunging after a report showed inventories last week rose, the first time a January report showed an increase since the government began tracking fluctuations in storage in 1994.
- Israeli Prime Minister Sharon will be under deep sedation for at least 24 hours after all-night brain surgery for a second stroke that three Israeli politics into disarray.
- The US economy will add about 2.1 million new jobs this year and the unemployment rate will remain at 5.0%, a White House economist said.
- Boeing’s(BA) commercial-aircraft orders more than tripled to a record 1,002 last year on demand from Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, likely overtaking Airbus SAS for the first time in five years.
Wall Street Journal:- BASF AG, the world’s largest chemical maker, might see its $4.9 billion bid for Englehard Corp.(EC) thwarted if the US company used a “poison-pill” defense, the BASF CEO said.
- Google(GOOG) plans to begin a service that will allow consumers to buy videos including television programs from content partners such as CBS Corp.
- Blackstone Group LP and Hewlett-Packard are considering making an offer for Computer Sciences(CSC).
- Palm’s(PALM) new version of its Treo mobile phone with Microsoft(MSFT) software isn’t as capable as its Treo 650 phone that uses Palm’s operating system, Walter Mossberg wrote.
- Wyeth(WYE) CEO Essner said the company plans to seek regulatory approval for as many as five drugs this year.
- Sony Corp.(SNE) and Sling Media plan today to announce technology that will let customers use wireless phones to watch cable or satellite television shows being delivered to their homes or stored on digital-video recorders.
- Nokia Oyj(NOK) plans to increase production of its 770 wireless Internet device to meet an unexpected surge in demand.
- Television makers including Sony(SNE) and Samsung Electronics are using light-emitting diodes in more expensive sets to provide brighter, more colorful pictures.
- AT&T Inc.(T) is offering television channels over the Internet in San Antonio, a first step in its plan to challenge cable TV this year.
- General Motors’(GM) China sales rose 35% to a record last year as discounts and a wider model range attracted buyers, putting the company on course to surpass Volkswagen AG in the market.
NY Times:- Lawmakers in 30 US states plan to introduce legislation to make corporations such as Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) spend more on employee health insurance.
Washington Post:- Washington D.C. Council gave final clearance yesterday to a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places.
Jornal de Negocios:- Brisa-Auto Estradas de Portugal SA is considering investing in highways in the US, where more states plan concessions for private companies to build and operate toll roads.
Yonhap News:- Samsung Electronics is targeting sales of digital TVs to climb to a record $10 billion in 2007, citing the head of the company’s consumer electronics division.
Optima:- Copper prices will average just over $1 a pound over the next decade as supply from mines and scrap rises and Indian demand fails to match that of China, Richard Wilson, managing director of Brook Hunt said.
